said, smiling.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. Please sit.” The archaeologist motioned to the chair on the table’s opposite side.
“This was a fine choice.”
“I thought you’d like it.” Barton had purposely selected this popular, small cafe in the Muslim Quarter since, as of late, he’d been hearing rumblings that Jewish shopkeepers weren’t taking kindly to Muslim guests— more fallout from the theft’s aftermath.
Pulling in his chair, Razak was immediately approached by a young male Palestinian waiter, painfully thin, just sprouting a sparse beard.
“Will you eat, Graham?”
“Yes, if you have time.”
“Any preferences?”
“Whatever you recommend.”
Razak turned to the waiter and rattled off a few dishes—the restaurant’s famous hummus with black beans and roasted pine nuts, pita bread “hot please,” he specified, falafel, two shwarma kabobs—and asked for a pot of shai mint tea “with two cups,” purposely in English so as not to make Barton uncomfortable.
Once the waiter had jotted everything on his pad and read it back, he retreated to the rear kitchen.
“Tell me, what have you found out?”
Barton’s face lit up. “Something quite extraordinary.” He reached into his shirt pocket and anxiously pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “See here,” he opened the paper and laid it out for Razak. “On top is a photocopy of the original text, below it, the English cipher. Why don’t you take a moment to read it for yourself?”
Briefly, Razak admired the beautiful handwriting of the ancient script. Then his eyes skipped down the page to the translation.
Having fulfilled God’s will, I, Joseph of Arimathea and my beloved family wait here for the glorious day when our fallen Messiah shall return to reclaim God’s testimony from beneath Abraham’s altar, to restore the holy Tabernacle.
Razak’s expression showed his confusion. “Who is this Joseph?”
The waiter returned with a steaming pot of tea and Razak covered the document with his hand while the young man poured out two cups.
Barton waited for him to leave. “Joseph is the man whose skeleton is in the ninth ossuary. You see, the Hebrew name ‘Yosef’ translates in English to ‘Joseph.’ ” He gave Razak a moment to let that sink in and continued, “Have you ever heard of Joseph of Arimathea?”
Razak shook his head.
“I’m not surprised. He’s an obscure first-century biblical figure who appears only briefly in the New Testament.”
Sipping his tea, Razak suddenly looked uneasy. “And what does the book say about him?”
The Englishman spread his hands on the table. “Let me first say that most of what we hear about Joseph of Arimathea is purely legend. That’s what’s most interesting about this find.” Barton was speaking quickly, but in a hushed tone to avoid being overheard. “Many say he was a wealthy tradesman who supplied metals to both the Jewish aristocracy and Rome’s bureaucrats, both of whom needed steady supplies of bronze, tin, and copper to produce weaponry and mint coins.”
“An important man.”
“Yes.” Tentative, Barton continued by saying, “In fact, the Gospels of Mark and Luke state that Joseph was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin—the council of seventy-one Jewish sages who acted as the supreme court of ancient Judea. The Gospels also suggest that Joseph was a close confidant of a very famous, charismatic Jew named Joshua.”
The name didn’t register with Razak, but Barton was looking at him like it should. “Am I supposed to know this Joshua?”
“Oh you know him,” Barton confidently replied. “Some Hebrew translations also refer to him as ‘Yeshua.’ The original Greek gospels referred to him as ‘Iesous.’ ” He could tell Razak was growing impatient with the name game. “But surely you know his Arabic name,...‘Isa.’”
Razak’s eyes went wide. “Jesus?”
“And though Joshua—or Jesus—was the second most popular name here back in the first century, I don’t think the Jesus I’m referring to needs any explanation.”
Razak shifted in his chair.
“Following Jesus’s death, Joseph was said to have gone to Gaul— modern-day France. Accompanied by the disciples, Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, Philip, he preached Jesus’s teachings. Supposedly around 63 CE, he even spent time in Glastonbury, England, where he acquired land and built England’s first monastery.”
Sipping more tea, Razak raised his eyebrows. “Go on.”
“Fast-forward to the Middle Ages and Joseph becomes a cult hero with monarchs fabricating lineal ties to share his fame. And during this time another story surfaces, claiming that Joseph possessed Jesus’s crown of thorns and the chalice he drank from at the Last Supper.” Barton paused to let Razak absorb all the details. “Some believed that Joseph collected the blood of Jesus’s crucified body in that cup.” He noticed Razak’s lips purse at the words “crucified body.” “Better known as ‘the Holy Grail,’ the cup was believed to possess healing powers and granted its owner immortality.”
“Those certainly are fantastic stories,” Razak stated. “Surely you’re not suggesting that the thieves thought the missing ossuary contained the Holy Grail?”
Pursing his lips, Barton made a dismissive motion with his hand. “There are some fanatics out there,” he admitted, “but no. I’d certainly not push that idea.” He continued tentatively. “I decided to do a bit more research
